Nearly 40,000 spectators were drawn to the southern beach town of Vung Tau Saturday night as artists from 24 countries displayed their kite-flying skills to open the second International Kite Festival. The festival, called “Legend – Millenium,” closed on Monday, March 29.

Among nearly 140 participating artists is Lam Hoac, an overseas Vietnamese from Canada and one of the world’s seven best kite flyers. Indian artists have brought their traditional paper kites, while the Taiwanese entries have caught the eye with several kites that are 100-150 meters long, including a giant squid.

The opening show started at 8 p.m. with a kite flying performance that narrated a legend about the history of Vietnam’s kite, which was first made to pull the sky nearer to the land. And it ended with nearly a hundred kites soaring on the sky.

Artists from German, France and Thailand became the focus of the night when they flew three and more kites at a time, to the tune of dance music. More than a thousand lights were used during the night. Vung Tau Town held the first kite festival in March last year in a three-day event that featured 300-400 kites.